


what's there will always be

by mollykor



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:27:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29215665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mollykor/pseuds/mollykor
Summary: It’d take her a long time to get over what happened to her, what happened to the both of them. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her give up.
Relationships: Katrina Cornwell/Original Universe Gabriel Lorca
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	what's there will always be

It’d take her a long time to get over what happened to her, what happened to the both of them. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her give up.

The clock beeped on the side of the bed, and she moved to switch it off, a habit she had built up of the year and a half that he had been gone, but found him in her way. Once Kat had become “okay” enough for them to sleep in the same bed without having flashbacks or panicking when she woke in the morning to find someone lying next to her, they had fallen into their old routines. Gabriel was always awake before her, up and ready to face the day, but Kat always had to be coaxed out of bed with kisses and promises of coffee and toast. Well, the 'kisses' part was no longer applicable. The alarm switched off seconds later, almost as if it had never been there, and she exhaled, feeling the tension leave her body.

“Love? Time to wake up.” Gabriel’s voice was low and soft, his southern accent thick in the mornings with sleep. There was once a time when he would’ve peppered her face with kisses until she woke up, rubbing his hands softly over her sides until she came to and reciprocated them, but those days were long gone, exchanged simply for tender words until she felt comfortable enough to be touched by him again. She rarely slept the full night anymore, lay with her back against Gabriel’s and softly crying so as to not wake him. Plagued by nightmares, her sleep was far less pleasant than she could’ve hoped after recovering for what must’ve been almost a year. She kept telling herself that what she had been through was immense, and she wouldn’t ever forget the pain, but she could try to move past it and incorporate its limits into her life somehow. Everyone heals at different speeds, she knew that from her psychology days, but she wished that with everything she knew about the human mind that she would be able to get back to normal quicker.

She lay there, staring numbly at the ceiling. Gabriel was too sensible to gently shake her out of her reverie, so he sat there with his hands clasped so as to not touch her like he wanted to. He had always shown his affection physically, she remembered, always hugging her after a long day or placing his hands on her shoulders to ease some of the tension that never seemed to go, even when she was relaxed as she used to be with him. She inhaled deeply, preparing herself for her day, and exhaled as she sat up gently, the dull ache in her back never once leaving, a permanent reminder of her days spent in the hands of the enemy. That Lorca had left her there, suddenly obeying the rules of Starfleet when it was her turn to be in danger. He hadn’t rescued her, and as much as she had tried to get over the fact that it wasn’t her Gabriel, it still stung as she remembered all her lonely hours in the cell, with too much time to think but never enough time to fully come to terms with the fact that Lorca had abandoned her in there.

She slowly turned her head to look at him, breathing deeply and trying not to think about the other person with the same face. He gave her a half smile, turning the right side of his lips up like he always had, that slightly mischievous smirk that never seemed to leave his face when they were together now looking tired in conjunction with the lines etched into his forehead. Kat tried to smile back, but it felt like the muscles in her face wouldn’t comply, wouldn’t smile back at this person she had known to be a traitor for so many months until her Gabriel had showed up, and try as she might, she couldn’t instantly go back to the way things were, not after everything he had done to her, all the ways he had used her. She thinks back to the first time they were alone in her, no, their quarters when the real Gabriel had returned. How he had gone to put a hand on her thigh in comfort but she had jumped, and in an instant had her back pressed against the wall on the far side of the room, breathing heavily and eyes widened in panic. She had watched him swallow, trying to hold back his tears, finally understanding how much he had hurt her. He had told her that night that he feared he would never earn back her trust, and she had told him that he would, eventually, and that she just needed time. That was almost eight months ago.

“Ready?” Kat zoned back in, her eyes refocusing on his face again and she nodded her head quickly, hesitantly at first. She grabbed his arm and he helped her up, letting her lean against him. Shifting some of her weight back onto her own feet, she loosened her grip on his arm and breathed out gently, exhaling through the pain of standing up. 

Gabriel couldn’t help but look down at her in admiration, she was so strong to even be with him still, and he knew that it would take time for them to be okay again, heck, they might never get back to the way they were before, but he was alright with that. He had been away from her from what felt like an eternity, and he most certainly wasn’t going to let her slip through his fingers again. The tears built in his eyes as she straightened her spine, bones clicking softly, and turned to face him, her soft features illuminated by the gentle glow of the low blue lights that they always kept on, even when they slept. 

They spilled out his eyes when she hugged him, for the first time in forever, and in that moment they both knew that they would be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I had originally titled this in my notes at the time of writing, "oh wow, look molly wrote another lil fic at way past her bedtime, i wonder if she’ll post this one on A03 too". Looks like previous me was right cus here we are >:). ANYWAYS feel free to leave kudos and comments and/or improvements, I didn't get anyone to beta read it for mistakes so-


End file.
